After Varesa finished speaking, she pulled her into her arms and helped her lean back against her.
Bai You was still panting, her face flushed, and the tips of her ears were frighteningly hot.
After a while of quiet in bed, the only sound was the breathing of the two of them, while outside the window, the wind and snow swept across the eaves.
Feeling down.
Varesa initially thought the matter was over and done with.
But after a while, Bai You opened her mouth in the darkness, her voice soft, completely different from the one who had been arguing so fiercely just moments before:
Varesa."
"Hmm?"
"I wasn't comfortable in their arms just now."
Varesa didn't respond, waiting for her to continue.
Bai You buried her face in her chest, her voice muffled by the blanket:
"I'm... I just wanted to see if their arms were as warm as yours."
What was the result?
"No, that's not it." She answered quickly, "None of them."
She paused, as if gathering some strength, and after a long while, she finally uttered the words, as lightly as a feather falling on the water:
"... From now on, I'll be your little kitten."
As soon as she finished speaking, she buried her face in Varesa's chest, her ears turning bright red.
There was silence in bed for about two seconds.
Then, "Pfft--"
Varesa couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Huh?" She laughed so hard her shoulders shook, then reached out and pulled the person out of her arms, cupping her face in her hands to look at her.
"What did you just say? Kitten?"
Bai You was so amused by her laughter that she wanted to shrink into the blanket.
"Don't laugh!"
"I wasn't laughing." Varesa said, but the hint of laughter in her voice was almost palpable.
"I didn't quite hear you. Can you tell me again, who's whose kitten?"
"..."
"Hmm?"
"I..." Bai You buried her face even lower, her voice barely audible, like a mosquito's hum.
"I am yours."
"What's yours?"
"... Your little kitty."
Varesa laughed again, her chest heaving with laughter.
She pulled Bai You back into her arms, patting her back gently, as if she were truly comforting a cat.
"Okay." She finally stopped laughing a little, but the corners of her mouth were still turned up so wide she couldn't suppress it.
"Then let me ask you, what can kittens do?"
Bai You was stunned. "... You know everything?!"
"It's just a kitten, isn't it?" Varesa asked seriously, counting on her fingers.
Will it use the litter box by itself?
Bai You:"..."
" Varesa!"
"And," she asked, getting more and more enthusiastic, "Does she know how to act cute? Does she know how to snuggle up to someone? Yes--"
"That's enough!" Bai You hurriedly reached out to cover her mouth, "I'm serious!"
"I'm serious." Varesa took her hand down, held it in her own palm, and her eyes narrowed into slits.
"You suddenly said you wanted to be my kitten, shouldn't I test you out first?"
Bai You was so flustered by her barrage of questions that her face was practically steaming.
She had mustered all the courage she had in her life to say those words, but the other person just laughed like crazy.
"Well, what do you want...?" she mumbled, looking aggrieved.
"What do I want?" Varesa looked down at her, then suddenly leaned closer, their noses almost touching.
I think--
She deliberately dragged out the sound.
"Let's try it tomorrow and see if you can jump onto my knees by yourself."
Bai You:"..."
"And," she continued, tapping her chin with her finger.
"Watch me raise my hand; will you offer your head to me?"
"Well, I should at least inspect the goods first."
Bai You was taken aback. "Inspect... inspect the goods?"
"Yeah, right." Varesa said seriously, "You said you're my little kitten, but that's not enough. Like this—"
She cleared her throat. "Now, make a 'meow' sound, and I'll hear if it sounds like you."
Bai You: "... Huh?"
"What?!" Varesa raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't it a kitten? Don't all kittens meow?"
"I... I was just using a metaphor!" Bai You out hastily.
"It's not like I'm really asked to meow like a cat!"
"Even a metaphor has to be apt," Varesa said matter-of-factly.
"If you meow now, and it sounds like a meow, I'll believe you. If it doesn't sound like a meow—" She paused deliberately.
"Then I'll take it as a joke."
"You--"
"Come on." Varesa lowered her head, leaned close to her ear, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice, like soothing a cat.
"Just one sound. Keep it down, don't wake Odette and the others."
Bai You was completely smitten by her.
She wanted to refuse, but when she looked up, she saw Varesa's eyes shining brightly in the darkness, looking at her with a "I won't believe you if you don't meow" expression.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, her face flushed red.
"I... I don't know how to meow."
"No way?" Varesa laughed. "When you were a cat, weren't you quite the meowing machine? All that 'meow' and 'meow meow'..."
"That's the cat's body making that sound!"
"Then call out to me now," said Varesa.
"Just one call. Then I went to sleep."
Bai You was cornered by her.
She looked around—of course she couldn't see anyone; it was just the two of them in the room.
Even so, meowing like a cat in bed in front of someone you like...
"Hurry up," Varesa urged, her fingers still lightly rubbing against her chin. "Kitty, meow."
Bai You closed her eyes.
She buried her face in Varesa's chest, until only the tip of her burning red ear was visible, and then—
A very soft, very muffled sound rolled out from his throat:
Meow~~~
It was as soft as a mosquito's hum, with a slight tremor at the end.
Varesa didn't say anything.
Bai You waited under the covers for three seconds, her face practically steaming from holding it in, before daring to peek out with only half an eye:
"... I've finished calling out."
"I didn't hear you clearly."
"You--"
"I didn't hear you clearly," Varesa said innocently.
"That sounded more like a sigh than a cat's meow. Say it again, louder."
"You did this on purpose!"
"What did I do on purpose?" Varesa laughed so hard her shoulders shook.
"I just want to hear it again."
Bai You wanted to disappear into the ground. She was about to say something when Varesa leaned down and kissed her.
"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore." She finally stopped and pulled him back into her arms. "I heard that sound just now."
"... You laughed even after I heard that."
"Because it sounds nice," Varesa said confidently, "Even nicer than the cat's meow at night."
"I'm not a real cat!"
"You're saying you're a kitten?"
"No, not at all."
"Oh," Varesa feigned sudden realization, "Are you kidding?"
"I'm not kidding!" Bai You panicked, grabbed her neck, pressed her face against the crook of her neck, and said in a muffled voice.
"I really do. I just want to stick with you, wherever you go I'll follow, if you touch my head I'll rub against you..."
As she spoke, her voice trailed off.
"Today at Odette and Columbina's, I only stayed for a short while before wanting to come back."
She whispered, "None of their scents smell like yours."
Varesa paused for a moment as she teased her.
Looking at the little one in her arms, whose face was buried in the crook of her neck and whose ear tips were still bright red, her desire to tease him suddenly softened.
"... Isn't that silly?" she whispered, reaching out to pull Bai You closer to her.
Bai You raised her face. "What do you mean I'm stupid?"
"Silly." Varesa lowered her head and kissed her forehead.
"You think I wouldn't know you were with them today just because you didn't tell me?"
"I saw you shifting back and forth on Columbina's lap, three times, but finally you ran back."
Bai You:"..."
She was actually seen.
"Well, then what I was -- "
"That's because she misses me," Varesa finished for her, her tone smiling, but she didn't expose her.
"Alright, stop making excuses."
She paused, then ran her fingers down Bai You's hair, combing it gently.
"Since you insist on being my little kitten," she said, "Then I'll lay down three rules for you."
Bai You immediately perked up her ears.
"First," Varesa counted on her fingers one by one.
"The kitten can only stay in my arms. It's not allowed to go to Odette's or Columbina's. It needs my permission to go to them."
"Okay."
"Secondly," she continued, "When you turn into a cat, tell me first. Don't turn in secret by yourself. I want to watch you transform."
Bai You paused for a moment, then swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
"Okay."
"Third," Varesa's voice softened, her fingertips brushing against Bai You's cheek.
Whether you become Water Nymph, a cat, or your strange abilities transform into something else...
She paused.
"They're all mine."
Bai You's heart felt as if something was gently clenching it, a mixture of warmth and bittersweetness.
She nodded from under the covers, and then, as if afraid the other person wouldn't see her, she hummed in agreement, her voice hoarse.
"It's all yours," she said. "It's all yours."
"Okay." Varesa lowered her head with satisfaction and gently touched her lips.
"My little kitty, it's time for you to sleep."
"Goodnight." Bai You snuggled closer to her, finding a comfortable position.